“How about from Ray Matewicz?”
“Not yet. I don’t think that Simon writes to Ray directly, or vice versa. Simon follows the chain of command, asking Todd to talk to Ray.”
“Which makes sense because Todd and Ray are buddies.” Bennie couldn’t put it together. She felt like they were on the right track, but missing too much information. “Do you think that Simon knows that Todd is friendly with Ray’s brother-in-law? That they play golf?”
“Probably. Simon is a family guy. He cares about families.”
“Then we’re reinventing the wheel, discovering information that Simon can supply. I know he’s at the hospital, but we need him in the loop. We don’t want to waste any time.”
“Right.” Mary frowned. “But I doubt we can get him here today. He can’t leave Rachel.”
“Then there’s only one solution.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“This way.” Mary led Bennie down the hospital hallway to the lounge, then went inside to find Feet sitting slumped in a chair, alone. His head was buried in his hands, and his back hunched over. “Feet?”
“Yo.” Feet looked up, his eyes glistening with fresh tears behind his Mr. Potatohead glasses.
“What’s the matter? Is Rachel okay?” Mary sat down beside him, followed by Bennie.
Feet heaved a hoarse sigh. “We lost the donor. She dropped out.”
“Oh no. What do you mean?”
“The donor who was going to give the marrow. They say she got in some kind of accident. I think she changed her mind.” Feet blinked his hooded eyes clear. His scraggly eyebrows sloped down, and his parched lips formed a heartbroken line. “I bet she got cold feet on account of, it hurts. The docs said it’s like getting kicked by a horse.”
“So what happens to Rachel now?”
“The docs gotta find another donor.”
“She stays here in the hospital, right?”
“Yes. But we go back to square one. They gotta make sure she stays in remission.” Feet lifted his glasses to wipe his eyes from underneath, using his clubby fingers. “The longer it takes, the worse it gets. Every day she gets weaker.”
“Don’t worry, Feet.” Mary patted his arm. “They know what they’re doing. They’ll take care of her. This is the best hospital in the country.”
“I know.” Feet recovered, sniffling. “Your father and them went to get take-out. The cousins were sick of the cafeteria. You know how real Italians are about food. Simon’s with Rachel. Does he know you’re comin’?”
“Yes, I texted him.” Mary gestured to Bennie. “Feet, you remember Bennie, don’t you?”
“Sure, hi, Bennie.” Feet smoothed down his white shirt, extending a hand knobby with arthritis. “Nice to see you again.”
“You too.” Bennie smiled.
“Hey,” said a weary voice from the door, and they all turned as Simon entered the lounge, letting his expression show the anguish he must be feeling, as if he’d slipped off a mask. His clothes looked lived in and his face grizzled, as if he hadn’t shaved this morning. He pulled over a soft chair and flopped into it with a heavy sigh. “So you heard the bad news?”
Mary patted his arm as he sat down. “Yes, I’m so sorry.”
“What a setback. God, as if she hasn’t gone through enough. Now we have to start all over again.”
“The poor thing. What does she understand?”
“Not much, luckily. She can’t follow the countdown. She knows the date of her Transplant Day. You get a blue T-shirt and everything. But she’ll forget by then.” Simon rubbed his face, as stressed as Mary had ever seen him. “They’re trying to find another donor. We have to keep her on track. We don’t want to lose more time or our eligibility status.”
“You mean she has to stay in remission.”
“Right, and the chemo protocol is tough, she has to keep her strength up. Finding a new donor is prolonging the agony, literally.” Simon tried to shake it off, shifting his attention to Bennie, and Mary realized they hadn’t met.
“Oh, Simon, this is Bennie Rosato.”
“Your partner?” Simon blinked, confused. “I thought you were—”
“She’s helping on your case. We went to the crime scene together today.”
“But what about the conflict of interest and all?”
Mary had wanted to gloss it over but Simon was owed an explanation. “We back-burnered that matter and also your civil cases for now. The criminal case takes front and center.”
“Good.” Simon leaned over and shook Bennie’s hand. “Thank you, Bennie. I really appreciate you coming on board. This murder case scares the crap out of me. I can’t believe it’s even happening. It’s like a nightmare, and I thought I had a high tolerance for nightmares.”
“I bet.” Bennie nodded. “I’m sorry to hear about the setback with your daughter’s donor. In that regard, there’s something we should talk about before we get to your case.”
Mary hid her puzzlement. She had no idea what Bennie meant.
Bennie dug in her messenger bag. “Simon, I’m concerned that you need to assign someone your power-of-attorney, in case medical decisions need to be made for Rachel’s care and you’re arrested. I pulled some papers for you to look over.”
Mary cringed. “Bennie, really? You drew up papers? Can’t this wait?”
“No, it shouldn’t. I had some form POAs in my file. I’m sure we can get them notarized in the hospital.” Bennie handed the papers to Simon, who accepted them with a resigned nod.
“Thanks, I get it. Plan B. I was saying that to my father this morning. I’ll give him my power-of-attorney.” Simon handed Feet the papers. “Dad, will you hold on to these? We’ll have to deal with them.”
“Okay, I heard.” Feet adjusted his glasses on his nose, beginning to read the POA forms.
Mary breathed an inward sigh, relieved that Simon hadn’t been hurt or offended. “So, Simon, we need to talk to you about Todd’s murder case. We have a few questions.”
Bennie looked over with a slight frown. “Mary, should we do this all together?”
Mary didn’t get it. “What do you mean? Do you need to leave?”
Bennie’s gaze shifted to Feet and back to Mary. “No. I meant, shouldn’t we have this conversation with Simon in private?”
Mary grimaced, hoping that Feet hadn’t understood what Bennie meant, which was likely since his hearing was almost as bad as her father’s. “No, this is fine.”
“Go ahead.” Simon glanced out the open door. “We don’t have much time. Meanwhile, the nurses, our pediatric oncologist, and our social worker, they all know I was taken away yesterday. They’re trying to be nice but I know what they’re thinking. They think I’m a murderer.”
Feet shook his head, still looking down at the forms. “My son would never kill nobody. Never. They can’t arrest him. He didn’t do it.”
“Try not to think about it, Feet.” Mary took out her laptop, fired it up, and turned to Simon. “To begin, did you know that Ray’s brother-in-law plays golf with Todd? I think his name is Mo Nustrall.”
“I didn’t know they golfed together, but it doesn’t surprise me. Todd was friendly with Mo.”
“Do you know Mo?”